Fastener



June 4, 1968 F. ROCCHETTI 3,386,139

FASTENER Filed July 12, 1966 INVENTOR. El/YI/E Foe cwzrr/ United States Patent 01 hce Patented June 4, 1968 3,386,139 FASTENER Frankie Rocchetti, Hyenga Lake, Rte. 59, Spring Valley, N.Y. 10977 Filed .rui 12, 1966, Ser. No. 564,605 14 Claims. (Cl. 24-442) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The fastener is easily attached to and detached from articles and has positive means to prevent detachment from an article until desired. The fastener comprises two laterally-spaced arms joined together at the rear end and having free forward ends with the forward end of each arm having a first segment extending rearwardly and toward the other arm and a second curved, segment extending rearwardly and away from the other arm.

The present invention relates to fasteners and more particularly to an improved fastener for removably clasping objects.

When a lone worker such as a telephone lineman or roofer has to lower several objects from an elevated location to the ground using a rope, removing the lowered object from securement to the rope has been a hitherto unsatisfactorily solved problem. An analogous problem exists for workers such as loggers, mountain climbers and seamen who wish to lower themselves from a tree limb, cliff, ship or the like to the ground, to a boat or to another lower position, it being difficult to thereafter detach the upper end of the rope from its fastening.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a fastener which is easily attached to and detached from articles, which has positive means to prevent detachment from such articles until detachment is desired, and which is rugged and inexpensive.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a fastener having advantageous utility as a vehicle hitch.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of a fastener having advantageous utility as a wire stripper and tube cutter.

These and further objects of the present invention, as well as the principles thereof, will become more clearly apparent during the course of the following detailed discussion which is keyed from time to time to the attached drawing wherein illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a fastener according to the present invention in a closed condition about a bucket handle;

FIGURE 2 is a bottom plan view of the fastener of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a scale elevation view of a first modification of the fastener; and

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a mining car train showing a second modification of the fastener.

The fastener of FIGURES 1 and 2 has a pair of laterally spaced, longitudinally elongated arms 12, 14 which are roughly parallel to one another in their midsections 15 and converge toward their trailing end, shown uppermost in FIGURE 1. At their trailing ends 16, 18 the arms 12, 14 are shown pivotally secured to one another by pintle and pivot pin means 20. At the forward terminus of their roughly parallel regions 15, the arms are directed generally rearwardly and toward one another then rearwardly and away from one another so as to be rearwardly concave. More specifically the arm 12 is bent at 22 to define a blunt nose and proceeds rearwardly and toward the arm 14 at 23. Near the arm 14, at least past the longitudinal centerline of the fastener 10, the arm 12 is again bent at 24 to define a sharp nose which may be sharpened to a cutting edge 26 (FIGURE 2). From the bend 24, the arm 12 arcs outwardly and rearwardly at 27 terminating adjacent the arm 12 midregion 15. The arm 12 may conveniently be formed of metal such as steel wire stock.

The arm 14 is bent at 28 to define a blunt nose and proceeds rearwardly and toward the arm 12 at 29. Near the arm 12, at least past the longitudinal centerline of the fastener 10, the arm 14 is again bent at 33 to define a detent in lateral registry with the sharp nose 24. From the rear extent of the detent 30, the arm 14 arcs outwardly and rearwardly at 31 terminating adjacent the arm 14 midregion 15. The arm 14 may conveniently be formed of metal such as steel strapping and longitudinally centrally slotted at 32 in the detent 3i and extending onto adjacent portions 29, 31. Accordingly, as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 the projecting portion of the arm 12 carrying the nose 24 can freely enter the slot 32.

It should now be noticed that a leaf spring 34 is fixed to the arms 12, 14 near the pivot assembly 20. In the particular embodiment the spring 34 is constructed and mounted to tend to force the arms 12, 14 away from one another, to the dashed line positions 12', 14.

In FIGURES 1 and 2 the fastener 10 is fastened to a rope 36, for instance, at the pivot assembly and is being used, for instance, by a telephone lineman, to lower tools in a bucket having a bail 38. In order to do so, the lineman grasps the fastener arms, which would be in their 12, 14' positions and urges them toward one another to the 12, 14 positions with the bail 3S captured within the ambit of the fastener 10 cradle 40. The lineman then allows the rearwardly concave, generally semi-circular cradle portion 42 defined by the rear surfaces of the arm 12, 14 partly overlapping curved end regions to take the weight of the bucket. Because the curved end regions centrally partly overlap, the cradle portion 42 does not tend to spread, but remains oriented as depicted in FIGURE 1. The lineman can then lower away on the rope 36. When the bucket strikes the ground and rope 36 is allowed to slacken a bit, the bucket weight is no longer transferred by the bail 38 to the cradle portion 42. Accordingly the spring 34 restores the arms 12, 14 to a spread-apart condition freeing the bail 38 from the ambit of the cradle 40. The rope and open fastener 10 can be lifted back up by the lineman while the bucket remains on the ground.

Should the lineman have occasion to strip an insulation covered wire or out a piece of copper tubing or other relatively soft tubing, the object to be stripped, scored or cut is placed in the detent 30, the arms 12 and 14 being spread apart. The arm 12 is then brought toward the arm 14 until the cutting edge 26 engages the periphery of the object to be operated on. The user next rotates the object angularly relative to the fastener 10, or vice versa, while pressing the arms 12, 14, toward one another until the requisite cutting has been accomplished.

To use the fastener 10 in a lowering operation, for instance when a mountain climber, seaman or the like wants to lower himself, the user merely closes the fastener 10 about a tree limb, pipe or other convenient fixed object and pulls sufficient tension on the rope 36 to maintain pressure of the fixed object against the cradle portion 42 and thus keep the fastener closed. Obviously the apparatus of FIGURE 1 would be substantially inverted from the position shown. The user then lowers himself by climbing down the rope to the ground, or other lower position. Often after the user has reached the lower position and removed his weight from the rope, the spring 34 restoring force will be sufiicient to cause the fastener arms 12, 14 to spread and let the fastener drop free of the fixed object bringing the rope down with it. However, in instances it where the rope 36 is so heavy that the downward force caused by me rope alone is sufficient to keep the fastener closed about the fixed object, a simple upward undulating flip of the rope by the user will be sufiicient to free the fastener when the undulation has propagated up to the fastener.

It should be appreciated that the fastener of FIG- URES l and 2 can also be used in instances where remote disconnection of the fastener is not necessary and in fact not desirable. In such instances the spring 34 which biases the arms 12, 1dtoward an opened condition can be replaced by a similar tension spring for biasing the arms toward the closed condition illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. Alternatively, the hinge 26 can be eliminated and the portions 16, 13 made as an integral unit of elastic-ally deflectable metal, plastic or the like.

A modified fastener Lit) is shown in FIGURE 3, elements corresponding to those in FIGURES l and 2 being provided with corresponding, but primed, numerals. The fastener 10' differs from the fastener It) by having a tension spring 34 rather than a compression spring; by portions 23 and 29' pivoted at 22 and 28' respectively as well as at 44, 46 with respect to the portions 27', 31. The latter portions are in turn secured to the arm portions at 48, 5%. Instead of a detent and cutting edge, the fastener 16 is provided with rollers 52 mounted at the pivots 44, 46. The securements 48, 54 each comprise a longitudinal slot 54 in the arm portion 15', a pin 56 on the respective portion 27', 31 end received in the slot for reciprocation delimited by the ends of the slot, a tension spring 58 secured to the pin 56 and to the arm beyond the slot in the direction toward the pivot 22', 28'. The springs 58 thus tend to urge the arm portions 27', 31 in the direction of the arrows 66.

Three separate systems for opening the fastener are illustrated in FIGURE 3. Firstly, when an object is to be grasped and enclosed by the fastener 10, the object, for instance a pipe 62 is pushed toward the arm portions 23, 29, which prior to contact with the pipe 62 will be positioned relative to one another substantially similarly to the corresponding arm portions 23, 29 of FIGURES l and 2. Upon forcing the pipe 62 in the direction of the arrow 64, the arms 12', 14 will spread away from one another against the spring 34', and the pins 56 will move upwardly in the slots 54 against the springs 58 until the pipe 62 is eased by the three rollers 52 into the ambit of the fastener 10 cradle 40 whereupon the spring 34' closes the fastener about the pipe and the springs 58 restore the arm portions 23', 27', 29', 31', to their former position. When the pipe 62 has been lowered and is to be released, a second arrangement 66 may be made use of. The latter includes a control lanyard 68, secured at one end by a hook eye 70, or the like to one fastener arm, for instance 12, far from the hinge in order to make maximum use of the arm as a moment arm. The user upon pulling the lanyard 68 pulls the arm 12 away from the arm 14 so that the fastener becomes free of the pipe. Alternatively the user can employ a third system 72 which includes a control lanyard 74 secured to each of the pins 56 and extending through a guide ring 76 near the hinge 20' to the location of the operator. When the pipe is to be released, the operator merely pulls on the lanyards 74 causing the pins 56 to move upwardly in the slots 54 thus destroying the support provided by the cradle surfaces 42 so the pipe is literally dumped from the fastener 1t) cradle It should be apparent that were the pipe 62 a vehicle tow bar or automobile, boat or aircraft frame element, the fastener 10 would be very useful in towing the vehicle then releasing it from a remote location, for instance within the towing vehicle.

The release systems 66 and 72 need not both be provided on any particular fastener 16' unless an occasion to use both can be anticipated.

It should now be noticed that wing nuts 78 have been provided on the pins 56. When the fastener opening systern 72 is to be used, the wing nuts 78 are left sufficiently loose that the pins 56 can be moved in the slots 54, however, when the system 66 is to 'be used, the wing nuts can be tightened to secure the pins 56 at the lowermost, or an intermediate position in the slots. It should be appreciated that the higher up in the slots the pins 56 are secured, the smaller will be the force needed to open the fastener sufficiently to free the pipe 62.

It should also be apparent that the fastener 16 can be used in an inverted condition by a lineman, mountain climber etc, to lower himself to a lower position and then to retrieve the fastener 10 and rope.

Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG- URE 4 wherein a plurality of mine cars 80 or similar towed cars are shown hooked to a self-propelling vehicle 82 such as a mine engine. Each car, as well as the mine engine, is provided with a fastener 34 secured to its rear and opening rearwardly. Each fastener 84 is the same in all material respects to the fastener 10 of FIGURE 1, except for being provided with a tension spring 86 rather than a compression spring. The front of each car is provided with a conventional hitching loop 88.

An electrical cable 90 proceeds from a multipole switch 92 on the engine 82 along each mine car, having a disconnectable connector 94 between each as well as a conductor 96 proceeding to at least one electromagnet 98 adjacent each fastener 84.

In making up the mine car train each fastener 84 is forced toward a loop 88 about which it cams open. then springs shut enclosing the respective loop. The disconnectable connectors are connected by an operator and the train is then ready for movement.

When the train operator desires to leave-oil the last car at a station, he merely sets the selector switch 92 to energize the respective electromagnet 98, which, overcoming the force of the respective spring 86, opens the fastener 84 on the next-to-last mine car, freeing it from the loop 88 on the last car, thereby disconnecting the last car. Other cars can be similarly disconnected by energizing of the respective electromagnets.

Although several embodiments and uses of the fastener of the present invention have been discussed herein, so that the principles of the invention and its scope of applicability could be better understood, it should be apprehended that these are exemplary of many possible embodiments and uses and that the illustrated embodiments can be considerably modified without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the invention should be understood as encompassing all such modifications as are within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener including: two laterally spaced arms; each arm having a rear portion converging rearwardly toward and connected to the other; each arm, forwardly thereof, having a forward portion having a first segment extending first rearwardly and toward the other arm, then a second segment extending rearwardly and away from the other arm, said second segment having a rearwardly facing, concave surface adapted to engage an article; the forward portion of each arm extending laterally a greater distance toward the other arm than the respective rear portion on each arm so that said forward portions normally partly overlap one another defining a cradle bounded by said forward portions, rear portions and laterally by said arms intermediate said forward and rear portions; said rear portions being pivotable with respect to one another substantially in the plane of said arms to an open condition wherein said forward portions are laterally spaced from one another defining an entrance to and exit from said cradle.

2. The fastener of claim 1 wherein the forward portion second segments are generally concave with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the fastener.

3. The fastener of claim 1 further including means defining a hinge joint between said rear portions; said rear portions being pivotable about and connected to one another by, said hinge joint.

4. The fastener of claim 1 further including a compression spring secured to said arms and extending laterally between them, said spring being constructed and arranged to urge said arms to said open condition.

5. The fastener of claim 1 further including a tension spring secured to said arms and extending laterally between them, said spring being constructed and arranged to urge said arms to a normal position wherein said forward portions normally partly overlap one another.

-6. The fastener of claim 1 wherein one of said forward portions is at least centrally bifurcated to define a slot therein and the other of said forward portions is receivable in the slot.

7. The fastener of claim 1 further including means defining a first pivot joint between each arm forward portion and the remainder of the respective arm; means defining a second pivot joint between each forward portion first segment and each respective forward portion second segment; and means defining an adjustable securement between an end of each second segment and each respective arm intermediate the forward and rear portions thereof, said adjustable securement being constructed and arranged to allow limited movement of said second segment ends longitudinally along said arms intermediate the forward and rear portions of said arms.

8. The fastener of claim 7 wherein said adjustable securement means comprises a longitudinal slot in each arm intermediate the respective forward and rear portion thereon and a slot follower on each second segment end.

9. The fastener of claim 8 wherein each adjustable securement means further includes spring means connected to each arm and each respective slot follower and constructed and arranged to urge the respective second segment end toward the respective first pivot joint.

10. The fastener of claim 9 including release lanyard means connected to at least one of said slot-followers and constructed and arranged to allow pulling of the slotfollower along the respective slot against the urging of the respective spring.

11. The fastener of claim 8 wherein each adjustable securement means further includes a fastener on each slot follower constructed and arranged to disengageably clamp the respective slot follower at fixed positions in the respective slots.

12. The fastener of claim 7 wherein said second pivot joints each include rollers constructed and arranged to ease the entrance and exit of objects to and from the cradle.

13. The fastener of claim 7 further including release lanyard means connected by one end thereof to at least one of said arms near the forward portion thereof.

14. The fastener of claim 1 further including a means defining sharp pointed edge on one forward portion between the first and second segments thereof and means defining a concave recess on the other forward portion between the first and second segments thereof said recess being concave toward the arm having said pointed edge means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 428,354 5/ 1890 Boardwell.

732,358 6/ 1903 Keuscher 24-242 1,600,120 9/ 1926 Mary. 2,383,485 8/ 1945 Irby. 2,456,374 12/ 1948 Carter 24-233 2,489,709 11/ 1949 Hrabal. 2,955,867 10/ 1960 Linthicum.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner. 

